[Coff]

We’ve all talked ourselves into believing this defense was something special and that it’s Manusky’s fault when they fail. It’s time to consider the lack of talent. The secondary is average at best. Every time Norman gets beat one-on-one, it’s said that a safety blew an assignment. But the fact is that Norman can’t cover anyone one-on-one, which is something you kinda sorta need a corner to do once in a while. Giants fans will tell you that for every running play Landon Collins blows up, he whiffs on an assignment. Our linebacking corps is about as bad as it gets in the NFL: Kerrigan is very good, very solid and dependable. But after that the corps is a joke. A bunch of unproven rookies and cast-off free agents. If you want to make the case that the d-line is impressive because of Payne and Allen, fine. But neither has proven to be elite at this point. So at best with have three above-average players. Hooray. There’s little reason to think that a top notch defensive coordinator could make this defense any better than average, and that’s a stretch.